Hell Children
by manga princess
Summary: Lady, Trish and Lucia. 3 women that Dante had never planned on seeing again. But when something happens to his little girl, he'll realize that they're all connected in some way. [Redid 3rd chapter! Off hiatus, sorta.]
1. Just Another Night

I've figured that since I have a community in this, I'd better try to come up with a story! Besides, I've finally got an idea now! That being said, let's get this show on the road!

Disclaimer: Devil May Cry is not mine.

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Ruby was wandering around in complete darkness. Were she any normal girl it might be ridiculously hard for her to see but of course, she wasn't normal. Not in the slightest. Her eyes had adjusted almost instantly and now she was merely focused on trying not to get caught. It was that simple. She couldn't get caught. If she did, then she'd get sent back and that would be most depressing. Not only that, but if she got caught then there might be some repercussions. You'd expect her to just stay put then. If doing this type of thing was so risky, why was she out? Well, because she's stubborn. Ruby was a very stubborn young girl. Not something to be proud of but there you go. 

Eventually, she ended up coming to a door. His door. Alarmed, she gasped and dived backwards. And then she waited. For a long moment, she was as still as a statue but gradually she began to move. Keeping on her stomach, she began to slither across the carpet relieved that it was pleasantly soft. It took forever and a day but the girl finally made it past the door. As a precaution, she continued to crawl until she could no longer see it when she looked behind her. Then slowly, Ruby got up and took off running as silently as possible. It didn't take her long to reach the corner and her eyes lit up at the sight. Halting at that spot, she smiled and looked around cautiously. It looked like the coast was clear. There went the easy part. Now it was time for the tricky part. Quietly, slowly, Ruby took a few steps out into the open. Followed by a few more. Still nothing. Feeling confident now, the girl decided to run…only to get scooped up from behind by a certain someone with little effort.

* * *

"Daddy!" Ruby shrieked in protest as she struggled in frustration. "Put me down! Let me go! Come on!" 

Dante Sparda looked at the little girl in his arms strain to get loose and gave an amused chuckle. "It's a little past your bed time, isn't it?"

"I was just getting something to drink." She said defensively.

He quirked an eyebrow. "Oh really? Well, isn't the kitchen"—He turned around and gestured—"the other way?"

She gave a sheepish blush. "Um…"

"Nice try. But you aren't staying up to watch TV."

"Aw Dad!"

"I don't wanna hear it."

Thus he took his daughter to her bedroom and placed her on the bed.

"But this isn't fair!" Ruby whined. "You let me stay up before! Why can't I do it now?"

"First of all," began Dante. "That was on New Year's Eve. You didn't have school to worry about. Second, you were out cold only a mere hour after your bed time."

"I wouldn't say it was an _hour_."

"Go to sleep."

"But"—

"Now."

"Fine."

Ruby grumbled a bit to herself and got underneath the blankets of her bed, closing her eyes. Dante stood hands on his hips staring at her for a second before leaving. But he didn't go anywhere. He merely stood directly by the door and waited expectantly. When the door had closed, Ruby Sparda opened an eye and sat up slowly listening for anything in particular. Once she was absolutely sure there was nothing, she slipped out of the bed and snuck across the floor with her knees. Putting her ear to said door, she again listened for sound and hearing nothing, gingerly turned the knob and stuck her head out.

"Bed." Commanded Dante's voice from nowhere.

* * *

With a squeak and sheepish blush, Ruby immediately closed the door. Hearing the click of the door lock, Dante smiled. Yes, his daughter was beyond stubborn but that would ensure she'd stay in her room. Leaving the vicinity of the hallway, the hunter went towards his bedroom. He put on his customary red trench coat and equipped his beloved Ebony and Ivory. Then he looked to Alastor and Ifrit. The living weapons. Usually, he'd always take both but ever since the birth of his little red-headed devil, he realized quite quickly that he'd have to part with at least one. Dante examined both weapons for a few more minutes before choosing to go with the lightning sword. Having put that on his arsenal, he took the fire gauntlets and went back to his daughter's bedroom door. 

"Daddy?" called the little girl's voice.

Dante smiled and opened the door to find young Ruby standing there with her favorite stuffed animal.

"Yeah?" he answered.

"You're gonna be careful, right?"

"I always am."

Ruby smiled with satisfaction. "Good."

Then she opened her arms for a hug. Dante let out a chuckle and crouched to a knee to give her a long one. Then she went back to her bed and fell back to sleep. Dante looked at her sleeping form with affection then to Ifrit which he'd placed in his daughter's room. His eyes went to that demonic, red gaze as his power tapped into the weapon.

"Watch over her." He instructed calmly.

The weapon gave one single flash and radiated its energy to engulf the whole house in the form of a flame that vanished as quickly as it appeared. Giving a satisfied smile, Dante Sparda left the premises ready to go to work.

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And that takes care of my first chapter! What do you think? Is it good? I certainly hope so! Please review me! I don't care if you flame me or anything! As long as it means you're reading! Until we meet again. 


	2. New Friends

Dante has a daughter! Isn't she grand? Wanna know who else has a kid? You'll find out right here!

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Disclaimer: Dream come true, people. Dream come true.

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Ruby Sparda was clinging to her father's hand in a vice grip. Being a miniature demoness, she was plenty strong and were her dad a human, she'd have broken all his flimsy little bones in multiple fractures. But her father wasn't a human. He was Dante Sparda. Legendary badass demon hunter. He was used to facing a lot of obstacles in his line of work and tackled them all with very little effort. Now, on this morning, there was one that would prove extremely difficult. Taking his 8 year old daughter to her first day of school. They were standing outside the building and had been there for 2 minutes, having halted when Ruby froze in her tracks at the sight of it. Currently, the girl was furiously shaking her head while Dante patiently tried to persuade her to go inside. 

"I don't wanna go. I don't wanna go. I don't wanna go." She said in a little mantra.

Dante sighed. "Ruby, you have to go to school."

"But I'm scared."

"Scared? What are you afraid of?"

"What if nobody likes me?"

"Look, you can't get everyone to like you, but there's no way someone won't like you. You are a very likable girl. I should know. You're my daughter. And whoever doesn't like you doesn't deserve your friendship anyway."

"What about bullies? What if I get picked on?"

"Don't worry about bullies. If anyone picks on you, just call me."

"The school is so big! What if I get lost?"

Not much really made Dante laugh but at that statement, he almost laughed out loud.

"You're not going to get lost."

"How do you know? I've never been here before."

"You can't get lost in an elementary school. You have teachers and hall monitors everywhere."

Ruby paused. "I guess that's true."

Dante nodded. "So, are you ready to go in now?"

"Um…okay."

Dante gave a relieved sigh then smiled. "All right, then."

Thus he led her inside. After a moment of talking with the principal, Dante brought Ruby to her classroom.

"This is it." He looked at her. "You ready?"

Ruby gulped but nodded. Dante gave a sympathetic look and gave her a hug.

"It's gonna be fine. Trust me."

"Okay." She whispered.

After another tight hug, Ruby reluctantly let him go and went to sit at her desks where the rest of the students were. Dante watched her for another long moment before finally, also reluctantly, leaving. Sure, he was new at this parent stuff but he had to let her go. Besides, now he had to get to work.

* * *

Meanwhile, 3 women entered at the same leading their own children inside the building and heading straight to the classroom. One was blonde with a black haired son. One was reddish/pink haired with a brunette daughter. And one was black haired with a blonde son. Neither noticed each other but the kids were completely antsy. They would not stop squirming. After a bit of brief pep talks, the mothers parted from their children and watched as they flocked into the classroom before finally leaving.

* * *

The 3 kids entered not paying much attention to anything until and just wandering around. Ruby watched them the whole time with curiosity. They looked like they'd rather be somewhere else too. As though feeling her presence, the raven haired boy turned in her direction and locked eyes. Embarrassed, she instantly looked away focusing on a book. After a moment, he smiled and walked over to her. 

"Hi." He greeted softly.

Ruby was surprised that he came over and blushed a bit. "Hi." She replied even softer.

"My name's Jared. What's yours?"

"Ruby. Nice to meet you."

"You too."

There was a shy pause that lasted for a moment where Ruby looked at the other two. At the same time, both kids turned and looked at her. Even more surprised, she blinked and blushed but didn't look away. The two smiled and also went over.

"Hi." Greeted the girl and boy.

"Hi." Responded Jared and Ruby.

"What's your name?" asked the blonde boy.

"My name's Ruby." She answered.

"My name's Jared." He said.

"I'm Daniel. But everyone calls me Danny." Answered the new boy.

"That's nice." Ruby looked at the girl. "What about you?"

"Oh. I'm Gabriella. But people call me Gabby."

"Your name's pretty."

"Thanks. Yours is too."

"You guys didn't look like you wanted to be here. I didn't want to come either."

"My mom made me come." Jared said.

"So did mine." Added Daniel.

"Me too." Inserted Gabriella.

"My daddy made me come." Ruby told them. "I don't have a mom."

"That's okay. I don't have a daddy."

"Neither do I." Said Daniel.

"I don't either." Told Jared.

"Really?" Ruby asked.

All 3 of them shook their heads.

"Wow…That's funny!"

There was giggling as everyone sat down next to each other. Now that the shyness was gone, they were freely talking with each other and having a good time. When the teacher came in and quieted everyone, each child didn't mind being here and was looking forward to more school.

* * *

And that stops chapter number two! Not much I know, but I'm trying to learn how to shorten stuff. That means no cramming everything into one whole chapter. Besides, it'll be longer which is great because who wants a really short story anyway? Well, I'm off. Onto to chapter 3! 


	3. Field Trip

Hi! It's me again!!!! This story went on hiatus for a while but then I got a review quite recently and I thought I'd give it a recent update. My muse is all for it so I'm game!! 3rd chapter for Devil May Cry!

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Disclaimer: If I owned it, I'd have all the games and the manga too.

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"Please?" 

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"Please, please, please, please?"

Dante Sparda sighed and looked down at his daughter, who was currently on the ground clinging to his legs and basically keeping him from walking anywhere.

* * *

2 months had passed since Ruby's first day of school and things couldn't have gone better. Around week one, she started actually wanting to stay after school to be with her friends. And like many schools, there was the wonderful fieldtrips that all kids looked forward to. Ruby had been to her fair share with no problems. Until today. Which brought to light the issue happening right now.

* * *

"Didn't we have a talk about volunteering people?" He asked his daughter. 

"But I didn't volunteer you!" she protested. "I didn't say you would come. I just said I could get you to come."

Dante cocked his eyebrow. "Uh huh."

"So please?"

Dante gave a laugh and reached down to pick up Ruby, placing her back on her feet. "I can't."

"But why? It's not like you've got anything to do. I mean, you only work nights anyway."

"Correction. I work whenever a customer needs me. That includes days. You're too busy at school to see that."

"Did one of your customers call you yet?"

"No."

"Then you can miss! Come on. Please?"

Dante shook his head. "Sorry. It's not gonna happen." Outside, there was the loud honking of a vehicle. "That's your bus. You'd better get going before you miss it."

Ruby sighed with disappointment but did as she was told and hurried outside.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, Ruby was at school pouting. Her friends were sitting next to her. 

"He wouldn't chaperone, huh?" asked Gabrielle.

Ruby shook her head. "He said he needed to work."

"Well, if it means anything, so did our parents." Jared added sympathetically.

"Really?"

"Yep." Replied Daniel.

Ruby sighed. "Well, it still sucks."

Everyone agreed. They spent the next few moments waiting and preparing for the field trip at hand.

When all was done, the children flocked to the buses and picked their chosen spots. The place they were going today was the zoo. Not just any zoo. A petting zoo. Ruby was looking forward to all the little animals to see. The anticipation couldn't stop her incessant grinning. But something did for just a moment. A sudden chill that went all the way to her toes. It was like she was being watched and it bothered her immensely. Shrugging it off, she put on her jacket and hopped off the bus.

As Ruby Sparda rushed to join her class, she looked around curiously at all the other buses that belonged to other schools. Her eyes observed all the kids her age or younger and older and finally stopped on a pair. A boy and a girl. The girl had strawberry blond hair. But the boy was who caught Ruby's attention. He had silvery blond hair. Like her dad. She was practically gawking at this time. She didn't think others would have the same hair color. She only stopped gawking when he turned in her direction. Ruby was about to look away when he spotted her. Embarrassed to be caught staring, she blushed and tugged on a strand of hair. The boy cocked an eyebrow curiously then smiled. Ruby started feeling better at that though she did wonder if he was making fun of her. Before she could think further, she saw the blonde girl tapped the boy on the shoulder motioning him away. At the same moment, her friend Jared did the same to her. She turned, nodded and started to follow. Impulsively, she turned one more glance toward the other boy's area to find him doing the same before they were both lost in the crowd.

* * *

The figure stood in the shadows unmoving except for its gaze on the children. He waited until they were out of sight then teleported to one of the rooftops. He snapped his fingers and opened a portal in front of him. 

"Show me who I want." He commanded.

The portal flickered briefly before it glowed and suddenly it began absorbing colorful mist seeping up from the ground. Two strands came from another area in the zoo and 4 strands came from the area he was in. The figure smiled and looked down as the mist was sucked out completely and watched the owners with satisfaction.

* * *

Ruby halted in her tracks suddenly and her eyes slowly widened. The next moment, she collapsed, falling forward. 

"Ruby!" called one of her classmates.

At that moment, Daniel, Jared and Gabrielle also fell to the ground. It didn't take long for the teachers and chaperones to find this out and they flocked to the students' sides instantly.

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I'm going to stop here. Why? Because I'm still not into this story like I should be. So this will be a pretty short chapter. And now I'll be back on hiatus for a moment. Take care! 


	4. Dreams and a Meeting

OK! I'm going to work on my Devil May Cry story now! I'm now officially of hiatus. Because I made a promise to a certain reviewer that I wouldn't stop and I aim to keep it. I couldn't let my readers down! So I'm going to go to work!

Nightmares are in store… but are they just dreams or visions of what's to come? Plus there's a new character! Can you guess whose kid he is?

Let's get started.

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Disclaimer: Not even

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_**Within the depths of a dark cave, a group of beings stood in a circle surrounding what appeared to be a pentagram. Some of them were human… But the majority was demons. Plenty of them. One of them stepped forward and dropped a sphere into the pentagram. Once it made contact, there was a large flash that erupted and spread everywhere, hitting a group of 6 with immense force. Pain surged through each person before they collapsed into heaps on the floor.

* * *

**_Ruby gasped and opened her eyes with a jolt. She was still lying down and looked around groggily from her spot. 

"So you're awake." Said a voice she didn't recognize. "It's about time."

Surprised, Ruby looked to her left to find a boy sitting next to her bed, looking at her. He was the one she saw with the other school. The one with white hair. Curious, she made herself sit up and look at him.

"What… happened?" She asked.

"You collapsed." He answered.

"I did?"

"That's what I said."

"How do you know?"

"Because I did too."

"Really?"

He nodded. "That's why we're in here. Our teachers freaked out and shoved us inside."

"How long have I been here?"

"10 minutes."

"Was it just us?"

"Nope. Four other kids also collapsed outside. I think 3 of them were your friends."

"Oh!" Ruby looked around the room. "Where'd they go?"

"Home. Their parents picked them up already. I don't think they got in touch with yours yet."

"That's okay. My dad moves around a lot so it's normal."

"Yeah, mine too."

"Is that why you're still here?"

He nodded. At that moment, the door opened and one of the teachers came in and looked to the boy.

"Your father is here."

"Okay." He said. When the teacher left, he turned to Ruby. "Guess I'd better get going."

"Yeah. It was nice talking with you… uh…"

"It's Justin." He filled in laughing.

"Justin. My name's Ruby."

"Nice meeting you."

"You too."

Justin exited and Ruby laid back down suddenly weary. What a weird day. She closed her eyes without even realizing it.

* * *

_**She was running through a ship, trying to get to the opening before water completely filled the room to the very top. It took her a moment and when she stumbled it looked like she wouldn't make it but at the last moment, she dived into the room and slammed the door. The pressure of water slammed into the door knocking her flat on her ass. Wincing, she slowly looked up. Now where was she?

* * *

**_"Ruby?" 

The young Sparda girl opened her ice blue eyes to find herself looking into eyes the exact same color.

"Daddy?" She greeted with a yawn.

Dante Sparda's expression went from concern to relief. "How are you feeling?"

She shrugged and yawned again. "I'm okay. I'm just kinda tired."

Dante lifted her up and out of bed. Ruby stood for a second then leaned against her dad's leg, half asleep. So Dante picked her up and carried her out.

His heart was beating a friggin' mile a minute. He'd just gotten home when the school called telling him his daughter had passed out during her field trip. He was glad to see she was fine but a part of him was concerned about her bloodline. Call it instinct or intuition but Dante just new this had demonic written all over it. He wondered if her powers were finally starting to develop. If so, he'd have some work to do.

* * *

End of chapter 4! It's a bit longer but not entirely. This will one of my longest stories because everything is gonna progress slowly. But I guess that'll just give you more to read! Anyway, wait for 5th chapter. It'll be here eventually. 


	5. Schemes

5th chapter of my Devil May Cry story. It said in a writing book that if you had ideas, you needed to write it out as soon as possible. So I'm forcing myself to cease procrastinating and write!! And maybe we'll see how this chapter works out.

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Disclaimer: You're not seriously asking me this?

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"A… A… ACHOO!!!!!!" sneezed Ruby Sparda, the force of it sending her rolling backwards in the office chair. 

A mere second later, a couple of windows imploded and a very large dent appeared in a wall, inflicted all by an invisible force. Ruby put her hands to her mouth and gasped. Dante Sparda had just witnessed this and surveyed the damage leisurely before looking at his daughter, who was blushing sheepishly. Slowly he shook his head, sighing and gave an amused smile before calling the girl over.

It had been exactly 7 days since the fieldtrip incident and around that time, Ruby had suddenly caught a cold. This was what confirmed Dante's hunch about her demonic powers manifesting because every time she sneezed, something or other came from her. Previously, it was a wave of demonic aura converted into energy. Currently, the little family was in Dante's office. Dante decided it was a better idea than keeping Ruby at home where she'd have much more things to accidentally demolish and more attention to draw to herself. Especially with her sneezes coming out in quick succession every once in a while. Plus it just so happened that today was "Take Your Kid to Work Day" at Ruby's school so this was rather convenient.

At the moment, Dante was busy getting his reluctant daughter to take more medicine when another sneeze came on. Swiftly, he got in front of her the moment she got it out. Another second later, bolts of demonic lightning shot from her body and toward his. When the smoke cleared, Dante had not a scratch on him. Dusting his jacket off, he went back to administering Ruby's medicine as if nothing happened.

"Blow." He instructed, giving the girl a tissue.

Ruby blew until her ears popped then threw it away. "I still think that's amazing." She commented, sniffling.

Dante just laughed.

It became apparent rather quickly that in spite of the fact that Ruby's uncontrollable bursts of demonic energy being very powerful, they had absolutely no effect on Dante who obviously was beyond more powerful than his daughter. So every once in a while he'd get in her line of fire and absorb it. Not only did it keep the damage low but also surprisingly, the absorption gave Mr. Sparda a burst of vigor as well. Kind of a bonus.

Dante took a moment to fix up the damage in the office when the phone rang at his desk.

"Could you get that?" He asked his daughter.

"'Kay." Ruby replied. She ran to the phone. "Devil May Cry."

Dante had to smile. She was a cute little secretary.

"Uh huh." Ruby said. "Uh huh. Hold on." She put the phone down. "It's a customer. He says he wants to come in right away because it's like an emergency. Is that okay?"

Dante was in the back room by then so he peeked out at her. "Yeah."

"Good. Because he said he's driving over right now."

Dante cocked an annoyed eyebrow at Ruby who merely shrugged and handed him the phone. Dante shook his head but took the phone and made the arrangements.

* * *

About 10 minutes later, father and daughter heard the faint sound of a car braking. 

"He's here." Ruby said.

"I know." Dante responded, walking over to the desk his daughter was sitting on top of. He gingerly placed his Alastor on the desk. "Watch her." The sword flashed briefly in response and Dante headed to the back room ruffling his daughter's hair as he passed.

The door opened a few seconds later and in came a man. He was dressed in gray all around. Ruby looked at him curiously. He was wearing shorts and a short sleeved shirt. Wasn't he cold? It was a little less than 50 degrees. Ruby herself was wearing a pink sweater and thick jeans. She shrugged. He was just hot natured. The man looked around curiously before he landed his gaze on her.

"My father will be with you in a moment." Ruby told him calmly. "He has something he needs to take care of first."

"Oh." Responded the man. "I see. Thank you."

He walked over to the wall and leaned against it for a moment, his eyes closed. Not even 5 minutes passed when the man suddenly got off the wall and went to Ruby's position. He was within range when she spoke without looking up.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." She told him.

"Huh? Do what?" questioned the man strangely.

She looked up. "Come any closer. I wouldn't if I were you. You'll regret it."

"Now why would I regret it…?" He said as thought it was ridiculous. An instant later, he jumped back with a curse as an electrical current nicked him and in a long line around him. He rubbed the right side of his body, closest to the current.

"I told you." Ruby said with a slight smirk. "My father's sword is here for a reason." She gestured to Alastor. "It has been instructed to keep me in a barrier that no one is allowed to cross. You can't get within a foot of me without consequences."

"I see. That's a little overboard, isn't it?"

"No. A lot of dangerous stuff can happen here."

"But you don't think I'm dangerous, right? So I don't suppose you can turn off the barrier?"

"Well, I would. But Alastor doesn't listen to me." She looked at the sword and narrowed her eyes. "Do you?" Alastor flashed a bit. "And even I could make Alastor stop, I wouldn't. After all, you're a stranger so I can't really trust you."

The man smiled. "Your father has taught you well." He sighed. "Well, I guess I'll have to speak with you from a distance." Ruby looked at him. "Tell me, child. How would you like to help your father catch a demon?"

Ruby's eyes widened. "Huh?"

"You heard right."

"How would I do that?"

The man went serious. "This demon happens to be really fond of children such as yourself. If it sees a child, it will immediately forget about anything else and go to that child. If you were to go out there and be that child, the demon would forget about what it stole from me and focus on you. It would make it much easier for both me and your father."

Ruby frowned. "I don't know… My father always told me that demons that like kids only want to eat them." She suddenly gasped. "You want me to get eaten by a demon?!"

"Shh! Shh!" The man hissed. "No, of course not. These demons only want to play with you. They're really harmless. Just mischievous."

"Demons that play with kids…" Ruby frowned then jumped off the desk. The man smiled and held out his hand only to watch her run behind the desk and dig into the drawers.

"What are you doing?"

"Looking for my dad's book on demons. He's actually got a lot of them but the most recent one should be here… A ha! Found it!" She put it on the desk and started flipping through. "Let me see… I don't see anything about harmless demons. But there are some that won't bother you if you leave them alone…" She looked up. "Hey, what's the name of your demon?"

"Uh… I forget."

She frowned. "You forgot? How can you forget? You know about its manners but you don't know its name?" She narrowed her eyes. "That doesn't make any sense."

"I had it but I lost it. It was on the tip of my tongue."

Ruby climbed back onto the desk and sat on her knees. "Are you sure you have your facts straight? I mean, this demon really plays with kids?"

"Absolutely. So does this mean you're willing to help?"

"I'm always willing to help. But… I'd have to ask my dad."

"Maybe you could just surprise him?"

Ruby cocked an eyebrow in surprise but before she could respond, she heard someone clearing his throat. The customer and Ruby looked at in unison to find Dante observing them both from behind.

"Having a nice chat?" He asked in a deceptively pleasant voice.

Ruby nodded.

Dante looked back towards his customer. "Well, you ready?"

The man nodded.

Ruby watched them go until the door closed. Then she rushed to it like a shot, crouching on her knees with her ear against the door to eavesdrop. Alastor was right with her.

* * *

They had just barely gotten outside when Dante suddenly had the man pinned against the wall, his one hand tightly gripped around his throat, squeezing his windpipe. His eyes glowed red as he stared him down coldly. 

"If you ever try to use my daughter like that again, I swear I will kill you. And you won't need to worry about this demon."

Dante squeezed more until it looked like the man would pass out then dropped him at his feet. The guy coughed, clutching his throat for a moment. He hurriedly stood up and left. Dante watched him go then turned around to go back inside.

* * *

Ruby heard the knob turn and bolted back to the desk as quickly as possible. She just barely managed to sit in the exact same position she was in before when Dante entered. Dante looked at his daughter for a second on the desk, looking as innocently as possible and had to smother a laugh. 

"I heard you running. Both times."

"Nuts!" She yelled, snapping her fingers.

Dante chuckled that time, making his daughter pout.

"So…" She began after a moment. "I guess that guy was bad news, huh?"

Dante propped himself on the desk next to Ruby and wrapped an arm around her. "Yeah."

"Was it a kid eating demon? It was, wasn't it?"

Dante nodded and tightened his grip around his daughter.

"How long were you listening?"

"Since he first asked you if you wanted to help me."

Ruby cocked an eyebrow. "Why'd you wait so long?"

"I wanted to see if you actually listened to the things I told you."

Ruby made an insulted noise prompting Dante to smile at her. He stood up, bringing her with him to the floor.

"I've gotta go." He told her. "You know the rules."

"By heart."

He gave her a quick hug. "I'll be back in a bit." With that, Dante Sparda left for work.

* * *

Outside there were two figures watching from a distance. 

"He's not gonna make this easy for us, is he?" said one voice.

"Well, he is the son of Sparda, after all."

"Oh well. I've always wanted a challenge. This might prove to be fun."

"That's the spirit."

* * *

And that is with this chapter. Now this is the longest chapter. I didn't expect it but I'm glad I got it out of the way. Now I shall take a breather for a few days before I do chapter 6. Stick around and friggin' review me!!! 


	6. Snow Day! And Surprise Reunions

The ideas just keep on coming! The parents of the children are going to meet again, save for two. Get ready; it's time for Devil May Cry.

* * *

Disclaimer: In my fan girlish dreams.

* * *

Ruby woke up shivering in her bedroom. Why was it suddenly so cold? She reluctantly poked her head out of the covers and looked around the room. That was when she saw it. The window was open. She'd left it that way last night. The temperature must have dropped this morning. Counting to ten, the girl dragged herself out of bed and hurried to close the window when she froze in her tracks. Her eyes widened at the sight outside and little by little, she began to grin until she could smile no more. 

"Snow!!!!!!!!"

With that, Ruby sprinted out of her room and down the hall. She was heading right for the front door.

"Freeze!"

Ruby halted, a foot in the air. Slowly she turned to find her father looking down at her, arms crossed.

"And just where do you think you're going?" Dante Sparda asked.

"Outside to play. It's a snow day!" Ruby Sparda replied.

Dante looked his daughter up and down. "Dressed like that?"

Ruby looked at herself. She was currently in her pajamas with socks on. "Why not?"

Dante cocked an eyebrow and stared at her for a beat. "Put some clothes on."

Ruby groaned but did as she was told, rushing to her room. She came back a few moments later ready to rush outside again only to be stopped once again by her father. Dante took a look at her. She was in a sweater now with thick jeans but something was missing.

"Jacket."

"I don't need a jacket." The girl protested. "Just because it snowed doesn't mean it has to be really cold."

Dante decided he wasn't even going to touch that one. "Just get your jacket."

Ruby sighed but went to get it. When she came back down, she was still wasn't complete though.

"Why do I need boots? Tennis shoes are fine." Ruby was saying.

"It's around 3 inches of snow out there." Dante told her. "You won't be able to make it from the porch before you start sinking."

"I've walked in deep snow before."

"And every time I was there to pull you out of it."

"Are you sure it's that deep? It didn't look like it to me."

"Trust me. It's deep."

"How do you know? Did you go out there?" She looked at him. "You don't look like you went."

"I didn't. It was on the news this morning"

"The news? You mean the weather people? I always thought you said you couldn't trust the weather people. Because they constantly get things wrong all the time."

"Ruby…"

"I'm going. I'm going."

5 minutes later, Ruby came back downstairs. Instead of just rushing to get to the door though, she walked purposefully in front of her father sitting in the living room to show him her clothes. Dante overlooked her and noticed that she added a hat, earmuffs, a scarf, and gloves to the ensemble as well. Looked like she beat him to it.

He smiled at her. "All right. Go ahead."

Ruby jumped up. "Yay!" She hugged her dad then took off out the door.

Dante was in the kitchen presently when 30 minutes later, the front door burst open and he heard his daughter calling for him.

"Kitchen!" He said.

Ruby joined him a moment later and he let out a chuckle at her appearance. Completely covered in snow.

"The other kids are asking their parents if everyone can meet at the public park. Can we go too? Huh? Can we please?"

Dante seemed thoughtful for a moment making his daughter fidget uncontrollably.

"Sure. Let me just get dressed."

"Woo hoo!"

He headed upstairs to his room and put on his own winter ensemble. When he came back down, he found Ruby waiting for him. She was trying to appear as patient as possible but he knew otherwise. Still, she was getting better. Before he nipped it in the bud, she used to come every 5 to 10 minutes asking if he was done yet.

Dante gave his daughter the OK and she was the first one out the door. They got into the car and took off.

* * *

At the park, Ruby flocked to the playground instantly while Dante stood around with the parents. He really wasn't there for very long when his daughter came back to him, saying that she wanted him to meet her friends from school that were there. He allowed her to snag his hand and lead him around. For a moment, she seemed to forget where her friends were and ended up dragging her father everywhere. Dante was patient enough but he was just about to suggest she bring them to her when she made an exclamation.

"Oh! There they are!"

And thus, she picked up the pace. This time, they were actually getting somewhere as Dante caught 3 different kids waving at Ruby as they neared. In the end, they all met in the middle. Ruby and her friends greeted each other and simultaneously turned towards their parents for the introductions.

Dante barely caught his daughter's words or the words of the other children. Because right now, his mind was busy digesting the presence of the 3 women in front of him. A blonde, a red head and a raven-haired female. And by the expressions on all of their faces, he knew they were just as thrown as he was.

* * *

Okay… this is the end! I know, this is rather short but I didn't want to have to cram everything in at once. I'd prefer to space things out. Besides, I'm really gonna need to prepare. I may be having an easy time keeping Dante IC but the women I'm not so sure about. So I gotta reach a comfortable mood before I begin. Wish me luck! 


	7. Decisions, Playtime and Feelings

Okay!!! I'm gonna update my Devil May Cry story now! I thought about it and I figure 23 reviews is a lot! And I want more. So I'm going to keep working. Besides, there are lots of other stories I want to work on too! But I've decided that before I do any more new things, it'd be good if I finished some of the old first! And this story is one of those oldies! Wish me luck and all that.

* * *

Disclaimer: Afraid not.

* * *

Dante was sitting at the picnic tables in the park. Across from him where Trish, Lucia and Lady. It had been years since he'd last seen them and to be honest, he hadn't expected he'd see them again either. Yet here they all were. Funny that.

"It's been a long time, hasn't it?" Trish spoke, breaking the ridiculously odd silence.

"Yeah, it has." Dante responded.

If he were to think about it, he'd have to admit that he wasn't acting like his normal self really. Back then, he probably would have had a nice little remark filled with innuendo and other such things to say to these women. But back then, he didn't have an 8 year old daughter that was prone to eavesdropping to worry about. Which was what she, along with all her little friends were basically doing though they did try their best to be subtle about it.

"Are you about ready to go?" Dante called out knowingly.

"No!!!" Ruby responded in alarm.

At that point, she got up and moved to another, farther spot prompting the other kids to follow. Dante smiled and chuckled a little. He felt a weird sensation immediately after that and turned to find the mothers staring at him.

"What?" He asked.

That got him some smiles but they all shook their heads and said nothing. The man cocked an eyebrow but said nothing.

"You know," Trish began after a moment. "When Jared told me he'd met a really nice girl, I wouldn't have thought she was yours." She gave him a look. "I never would have thought she was yours."

Dante snorted in amusement. "Feeling is mutual."

"I still find it amazing." Lucia added, softly. "I mean, what are the chances?"

"My Daniel talks about his friends all the time…" Lady added.

There was a slight pause between the group. Dante couldn't read minds but he still had a pretty good idea what the women were thinking. Where did this lead them? What would happen now? He glanced at his daughter, running from the other 3 children. Jared, Gabrielle and Daniel. He could hear their laughing. At that point, he'd made his decision. He turned to his former partners, his serious expression catching their attention instantly.

"Whatever happened in our past," He stated. "Has nothing to do with our kids."

Each woman blinked in surprise but slowly, nodded. Again, there was a pause… only to be broken as a ridiculously large snowball landed on the table exploding on contact and thereby spreading the wet, coldness into all of their faces. The interruption was so sudden; it got all the adults to cry out in shock before turning their gazes towards where it came from.

* * *

They found the 4 children staring wide-eyed with their mouths open.

"O…my…gosh…" Gabrielle uttered from her snowman.

"Jared did it!" Ruby and Daniel yelled, pointing in the boy in question.

"Hey!" He responded. "Don't blame it all on me!"

"Well, it is your fault!" Ruby said. "You threw it."

"I was aiming at you!" Jared retorted. "You should have just let yourself get hit and taken it."

"Like I'm really gonna stand there and let myself get hit by a snowball."

The conversation was cut short by a sharp whistle. All the children turned to look at Dante, who was watching them with an amused expression.

"It's OK." He said. "No one's in trouble." He looked at the women. "Right?"

They all nodded, smiling.

"It was an accident after all." Trish said.

The kids let out united sighs.

"In that case…" Ruby ran to her dad and grabbed his hand. "Can you join my team?"

"Hey!!" protested Jared and Daniel in unison.

"You can't have him!" Daniel said.

"It's two against one!" Ruby countered. "I need back up!"

"What about Gabby?" Jared asked.

"She's not playing anymore!"

"But a grown up?" Daniel added. "That's gonna make things uneven over here!"

Ruby frowned then sighed. "Fine." She looked over at Lady. "Ms. Daniel's Mom? Can you join their team so Daniel won't be a scaredy cat?"

"I'm not a scaredy cat!"

"You're acting like it!"

And thus it went on like that with the parents just watching in amusement until finally, a compromise was reached. Eventually, they got bored and decided to play Hide N Seek instead.

* * *

10 minutes into the game and it was Gabrielle's turn. She went around searching for the others and managed to catch the boys. Now the only one left was Ruby. The trio decided to work together to search for her and hurried off. Their parents watched them until they were out of sight.

"They've been playing for a while." Lady commented to Dante. "Your daughter must be a pretty good hider."

Dante smiled ruefully, remembering. "You have no idea."

"Should we give them a hand?" suggested Lucia.

"Nah." Dante answered. "Not yet. Let's give them about 5 more minutes."

* * *

Meanwhile, the 3 kids were still looking for Ruby only to almost run into her as she came out from behind a tree.

"Oh! Guys…"

Gabrielle had been about to do the whole tagging thing but stopped when she noted Ruby's expression. "What is it?"

"I thought I heard someone calling me." She answered, frowning.

"Someone calling you?" Jared repeated. "Where?"

"I don't know. I was looking for it when I crashed into you."

"Is it someone you know?" Daniel asked.

"Uh… Now that I think about it, I'm not so sure."

"Then forget it. If it's a stranger, it's probably bad."

"Yeah, Danny's right." Commented Gabrielle. "Why don't we go back and do something else?"

Ruby nodded. "'Kay."

They started to move only to stop at the same time for the same reason.

"There it was again!" Ruby exclaimed.

"I heard it too." Gabrielle said.

"So did I." Daniel replied.

"Yeah." Jared added.

The sound kept repeating itself in a rhythm.

"I hear your names too." Noted Gabrielle.

There was more frowning and then Ruby looked behind her. "I think… it's coming from there."

And very slowly, she started to take steps forward. The other 3 watched her then began to follow. And they then they felt a touch on all their shoulders. Each child leaped about a foot into the air only to find their parents looking at them in surprise.

"Dad?" Ruby acknowledged. "Jeez!!! Don't sneak up on us like that!"

He smiled. "Scared you, huh?"

Ruby huffed a bit. "No. I was just startled that's all."

"Does this mean it's time to go?" Gabrielle asked her mother.

"Everyone is leaving." Lucia responded. "But you can stay longer if you want."

The children all paused thoughtfully before shaking their heads rapidly. "Nah."

"Okay. Let's go." Dante said.

"Race you!" Jared challenged, taking off.

"Hey! No fair, that's a head start!" Ruby yelled, running after him.

Daniel and Gabrielle rushed after the pair, leaving the adults behind. Said adults watched fondly for a moment before turning around with narrowed eyes scanning the trees. The sensation from earlier was still there. Fading, but there. Dante shared a knowing look with the women. Looked like their feeling had been dead on. Something had definitely been here. Near their children. Dante's mood darkened at that thought. He'd have to be on alert now. They all would.

* * *

All righty! That's it for this next installment! I did it. I got the females out of the way… How was I? Did I suck? Let me know and give advice so I may fix it!

Nice little foreshadowing, huh? So what's next? I'm gonna do a little fast forwarding of the ages by about… 2 years. How? A birthday party! And maybe something else. We'll see when we get there. Until next time. Laters!


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